Our manuscript collections are a witness to the cultural and educational life of Liverpool from the late nineteenth century onwards. They reflect the tastes and aspirations of the city's wealthy benefactors, and the generosity of the families wishing to commemorate their lives.

 

The University owns 50 medieval and renaissance manuscripts in total. Almost half of the collection was bequeathed by Thomas Glazebrook Rylands (1818-1900). The exhibition 'Books as Tools: Thomas Rylands' Scientific Incunabula' explores his interests as reflected in his early printed books.

 

A further eight manuscripts were given by Charles Sydney Jones (1872-1947) alongside his benefactions to the former Education Library, and four by R. G. Morton (1880-1973) in 1969.

 

Four manuscripts are available in full on the Digital Heritage Lab, as well as a selection of fragments.

Book of Hours (use of Chartres)

LUL MS.F.2.8

Liturgical calendar with ornate illuminated illustrations.

Dominican Antiphoner

LUL MS.F.4.13

14th century manuscript of the Mass and Office with music of the Crown of Thorns, plus contemporary and 15th-16th century additions.

Piers Plowman

LUL MS.F.4.8

Piers Plowman is a Middle English allegorical poem by William Langland. Our copy has the A-text of Prologue to XI, 313, and C-text of the remainder.

Portolan Chart

LUL MS.F.4.17

Portolan chart of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the coasts of Western Europe and North West Africa. A portolan chart is a type of nautical navigation chart focusing on the coasts, rather than features inland.

Fragments Collection

Parts of manuscripts that have survived incomplete, usually owing to reuse. Fragments tell stories about the changing reading habits and interests of medieval, early modern and modern book-buyers.

All medieval manuscripts

Browse through all 4 full manuscripts that are available and all fragments.

Our Guide to Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts contains more information on these manuscripts and others in the collection. Our manuscripts are also fully described in N.R. Ker's catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries.

The University of Liverpool also has a small collection of Asian manuscripts including manuscripts from the Eastern Mediterranean, the Indian subcontinent and Tibet, and China.